Jet fuel used in airplanes must be capable of enduring conditions at a great range of altitudes. Therefore, the standards for jet fuel are established to handle a range of temperatures and pressures within the fuel tanks, within the fuel supply system and in the jet engines themselves prior to combustion, without creating hazards. However, there are a number of different jet fuels used for different types of jet engines. This is especially true for military jets that fly at very high speeds or at very high altitudes. One of the known hazards of concern is the thermal degradation generally caused by cyclic, aromatic and polar molecules in the jet fuel. Such materials form solid deposits that if attached to a critical location in the engine or fuel supply system could create a serious and possibly catastrophic problem. Much effort has been devoted to testing fuel and setting standards for fuel including the Jet Fuel Thermal Oxidation Test generally abbreviated JFTOT. Specifications for jet fuel are well defined and manufacturers of jet fuel that use feed stocks that are low cyclic, aromatic and polar molecules are able to capture full value for their products. Manufacturers using less desirable feedstocks must undertake efforts to reduce the content of such molecules from the jet fuel products or direct those products into other markets, such as diesel or home heating oil, capturing less value.
If a refinery had access to a fast, effective and low cost processes for separating out the undesirable components, that refinery would make a lot of candidate feedstocks suitable for use in making jet fuel that will meet the well-defined and highly critical jet fuel standards resulting in the production of high value products from lower cost sources. Such a process would be highly desired. Hydrogenation processing of the jet fuel saturates aromatics and will open rings on cyclic molecules. Certain clay materials have been used to filter out kerosene contaminants, but not with great success.